How Snowy 2.0 Is Digging a 16 km Tunnel Through Rock Mapped by Just 22 Boreholes

22 boreholes for a 16 km tunnel through faulted mountain rock: Snowy 2.0 is a 2,200 MW pumped-hydro power station being built 800 m underground. The headrace crosses five rock formations and nine expected fault zones. In 2022 the tunnel boring machine Florence got stuck in soft, wet ground and the surface above it caved in; a fourth machine, Monica, was built to cross the Long Plain Fault Zone. By the numbers: 350 GWh of storage; a 1.6 km inclined pressure shaft at a 47% gradient; more than 733,000 cubic metres excavated for the caverns. The cost: about A$2B when announced in 2017; a target of A$22.2B with a A$25B scenario in October 2026, and completion now planned for late 2029. The national auditor rated delivery "partly effective". Chapters: 0:00 A Machine Stuck Under a Mountain 0:36 Snowy 2.0 and the Stuck Machine 3:09 22 Boreholes and a Fault Zone 6:04 Linings, Pressure Shaft and Surge Shafts 9:04 The Power Station 800m Down 12:06 Florence, the Sinkhole and the Stall 14:26 Monica Joins the Fight 15:51 Who Pays, and Is It Worth It 18:34 The Breakthrough at Lobs Hole 20:22 What the Mountain Took and Gave If you know Britain's Dinorwig "Electric Mountain" or Virginia's Bath County pumped storage station, this is the same idea, with storage counted in days rather than hours. Mega Engineering: how the world's hardest structures are built, tested and paid for, with every number sourced. Sources: Snowy Hydro; Australian National Audit Office; Parliament of Australia JCPAA inquiry submissions; ABC; Guardian Australia; The Conversation; The Tunnelling Journal; AAP. This video is an educational documentary produced with AI-assisted narration and visuals. Visuals are illustrative reconstructions, not footage of the actual site. All figures are sourced from publicly available engineering and government records; where sources disagree, the range is stated. This video does not take a position on any political or legal dispute connected to this project. #Construction #Engineering #MegaProjects #CivilEngineering #Infrastructure #Australia #PumpedHydro #TunnelBoringMachine DISCLAIMER ____________________________________ This is not engineering advice. Everything here is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Contact an engineer licensed to practice in your area if you need professional advice or services. All non-licensed clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes.